Troposcotter,
Those median cables in AZ suck huh?
I almost found myself ther a few days ago.
I have a 2wd PSD that came with General tires and one of them separated causing some interesting maneuvers on the 101.
Only 24K on the pieces of crap.
Anyway, I bit the bullet and bought a set of new Michelin LTX M/S.

 

Have any of you run the Firestones near bald or completely bald? and What do you mean by "belt-separation"? I'm asking this becuase my rear tires (Firestones) are showing what appears to be the begininng of the belt surfacing. All I see is a white line that appears to go around the tire between the outer tread on both rear tires. Is that indeed the belt surfacing and/or it separating? and Am I almost due for a blowout? With rear tires almost completely bald, this has me worried. I drive to and from school and sooner or later work, and I'd hate to have a blowout, especially on the rear tires.

 

I wish we would all get together and email Ford with our VIN numbers. Let them know about our unhappy experience with the Firestone Products and ask them to do a little more than "severing their 96 year relationship with Firestone in 2001".
Even if it was Just some sort of pre-arranged rebate on Michelin Tires directly from Michelin(or whoever) after buying a set when your VIN indicates you had original Firestone Tires.

I am still waiting to hear back from Ford after providing them with my information that they requested

 

I have worked on the highways for 3 years now here in Las Vegas and I will pass on what I have seen.

Tires that I will never buy unless I want to put them on someone's car that I don't like;
Pep boys futura's- any type passenger or light truck.
Firestones of any kind.
Uniroyal of any kind.
Any of the mexico brand junk that you buy in the hood.
Any of the walmart, sams club no-name economy tires.
Bridgestone tires except the load range E type.
Any kind of tire specifically designed for SUV's to provide a smooth ride. These are fancy words for weak sidewalls and no load rating.
Tires that I recommend;
BF Goodrich ( watch out for old ones that are worn out)
Goodyear
Cooper
Michelin
Yokohama
Toyo
Super Swampers

Things to really watch in your tires.

Look for the telltale crack that starts at the very edge of the tread where it meets the sidewall. If you get this, they are looking to seperate. ( Re-Capped tires are famous for this)

Look for any unusual bulges in the tread, especially in the middle.

Keep them aired up, but not too much. Wear them evenly across the tread. Rule of thumb is too much air is better than not enough.

When temps go over 110 degrees. Stay under 75-80 mph. Especially if you are hauling heavy loads. That includes SUV's with tires that are barely adequate, or passenger car type tires run on SUV's and trucks.

Rules for surviving a blowout.

STAY OFF THE BRAKES. 90 percent of the crashes that I see involving a blowout are caused by the driver. The car will slow down on it's own, don't help it until your speed gets below 40-45.
DON'T STEER ABRUPTLY, DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE OTHER CARS ON THE ROAD. Your job is to keep control of your vehicle. If that means letting it wander around on the road until you get slowed down. Then let it wander ( unless it's into another car or fixed object ) The other drivers on the road will ( usually) see the smoke and pieces of tire flying, most of them will slow down and try to avoid you. As for the jerks that cut you off or do something rude, hopefully the tread cap flies up and hits their car.
Try to make it to the right shoulder, It's usually bigger than the left one. If there are no shoulders, then slow down to 25 or 30 and drive until there is one. If you ruin a rim, it's better to be alive to buy a new one than dead. Don't worry about slowing up traffic or making people angry at you. A blown tire is an emergency act and that requires special circumstances. Do what you've got to do to survive and stay in one piece. ( But don't expect people to help you, or be paying attention while they drive).

 

willd ,very good advise. you certainly have been paying attention. I'm going to put a set of michelin's on my 99 psd to replace the firestone's on it now. the firestone's will be moved over to my 77 hiboy which doesn't haul hardly any loads. thanks, s.kuteman

 

You are very fortunate to have firestones that lasted long enough to be considered bald.
Thread seperation is when the Threaded part of the tire (whcih is molded onto the tire casing) seperates(comes loose at one or more points from the casing) Either gradually or suddenly. Suddenly can cause a blow out with no worning. Gradually will generally cause the same sensation as an out of balance tire and may or may not be visible when it first occurs. This will eventually lead to the tread coming off of the tire either in chunks or as a peal off, which also can cause a blowout to occur before you can stop. I have seen this occur in other brands of tires but at nowhere near the occurance that is being seen in firestones. And I find it amazing that even after the recalls and lawsuits that they are still selling tires with this high of incidance of failure.

 

I would add to Willd's list tires to be recommended:
Les Schawb and the Tire Rack.

 

What about those "Micky" something tires? added to the list?

 

Micky Thompsons? I think those are used on lifted trucks, unless I'm just sadly mistaken.

 

Mickey Thompson tires aren't too bad, just a little soft for mileage.

I don't want anyone to think that my list is the end all of lists. These are just my personal experiences. There are lots of good tires out there that I didn't name. But the ones that I did name are popular and I have quite a bit of experience with them.

I don't want people to think that all re-caps are bad either. I bought a set for a suzuki samurai from High Tech retreading out of a four wheel drive magazine. But my application is perfect for re-caps. Ie. Light weight for the tire size and load range, Low speed ( It struggles to get over 60 mph) and low usage, it sees maybe 3500 miles per year. Some years a lot less than that. They have worn perfectly, balancing very easily and after 3 years in the sun they show no signs of tread seperation or cracking.

Thanks for the reply's. I hope my advice saves a life or prevents an injury someday.

 

I've posted on this subject before, but something new, and perhaps worse, has come up. The rear wheels on my Excursion are quite unfortunate to still have the original Firestones on them. After a rainy day coming home from chruch, I checked my rear tires and noticed what appears to be a crack making it's way around right rear tire. My guess is that it's the belt separating and that I shouldn't be surprised if I had a blow-out on that tire. I have a picture of the said tire in my gallery. Anyone who can make something of this is and/or confirm my suspicions, is welcomed to take a gander. Thanks is advance.

 

looks like you should let a tire shop look at that! good find early though.

 

Pic is a little fuzzy, but I think what you are showing is the advanced stage of tread seperation warning. Usually when it cracks through the edge of the tread like that it is going to be a goner pretty soon.

 

Complain to Ford with your VIN. They will send you a coupon good at the Ford Dealer for a discount on Michelin Tires. They know Firestone tires make their customers unhappy, that why (quote from Ford) "Ford severed their 96 year relationship with Firestone in 2001".

Too late for many of us. Right?

 

I want to complain to Ford, but how and where do I start?